Pascal Fries

Prof. Pascal Fries is a leading neuroscientist specializing in neural oscillations and their role in cognitive processes. His work focuses on how rhythmic brain activities like gamma-band oscillations enable communication between cortical areas, particularly in visual processing and attention. He investigates mechanisms such as the Communication-through-Coherence (CTC) hypothesis, demonstrating how attended stimuli modulate synchronization between regions like V1 and V4 in macaques. His research also explores top-down beta-band influences from parietal cortex and theta rhythms in attentional sampling across species.

• Research Interests: Neural synchronization, attention, visual hierarchy, optogenetic methods, cross-species studies (macaques/humans).

He presented key findings at the 2017 event Neural Oscillations in Speech and Language Processing, highlighting gamma's role in gain modulation and theta's role in attentional allocation. His work bridges electrophysiology and cognitive theories of brain communication.

Active in interdisciplinary collaborations, he contributes to projects like the Brain PIE Lab and Neural and Environmental Rhythms, advancing understanding of temporal dynamics in cognition.